The Big Bounce (1969)

Absolutely amazing

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

"The Big Bounce" scrambles to fit in all its elements, but holds your attention and has interesting stars: two starting their movie careers and one finishing his.Jack Ryan (Ryan O'Neal), a Vietnam veteran and petty criminal attempting to go straight, has little direction in his life. After losing his job as a cucumber picker in California he meets two people: one, Sam Mirakian (Van Heflin), a worldly-wise magistrate, tries to help him, while the other, unpredictable party girl Nancy Barker (Leigh Taylor-Young), invites him to join her in a walk on the wild side.Feeling a little like a TV movie, "The Big Bounce" is not helped by a rather detached score by Mike Curb – definitely of the elevator music variety. The film used to appear regularly on Australian television in the 70's and 80's, but the only place it pops up now is on TCM. At one stage they used to chop out all the nude scenes - which would have left a fair amount of footage on the cutting room floor - however of late, they seem to have reinstated them.Ryan O'Neal in his first film is a little brittle in places although the camera loves the guy – you can appreciate his screen presence more now that he is no longer so high profile.I have always enjoyed Van Heflin's work and here he gives a variation on that sage character he made his trademark – integrity personified. He was 57 when he made this but looked much older; it suits his character perfectly.Leigh Taylor-Young, holds the spotlight with an uninhibited performance, surprisingly so as she was Ryan O'Neal's wife at the time.If the film reminds me of any other it would be "Pretty Poison", especially the relationship between the guy, who thinks he's in charge, and the girl who is far more dangerous and scheming. Both films came out around the same time, but "Pretty Poison" has a lighter touch and genuine wit. In fact the major weakness of "The Big Bounce" is that it is rather humourless.Of course that was the element Owen Wilson injected into the remake in 2004 and it worked to a point, but the film meandered; the 1969 version is actually a tighter movie.It's not a classic, but "The Big Bounce" is still quite watchable, and the stars make it worth a look even after 40 years.

One of the mysterious young women trying to fill the footsteps left by a fleeing Mia Farrow on ABC-TV's "Peyton Place" was lovely Leigh Taylor-Young. Instead of providing the camera with clues for locating Mia, the coy Ms. Young hooked up with roddy Ryan O'Neal, who had been serving as the town's good-looking hunk for several years. Mr. O'Neal was looking to follow castmate Farrow into movie stardom, and newcomer Young encouraged changes. Call it "The Big Bounce".Alas, millions did not flock to the sinsational new gossiped-about couple on the big screen, although the film featured beautiful California scenery, a very generous helping of Young's naked form, and some brief views of hunky O'Neal's buttocks. The Mike Curb score may be a deterrent, but the movie could grow on you. It's a sexy time capsule, at least. Veteran Van Heflin gets the best of writer Elmore Leonard's lines, and Lee Grant (yet another "Peyton Place" alumni) always helps.**** The Big Bounce (3/5/69) Alex March ~ Ryan O'Neal, Leigh Taylor-Young, Van Heflin, Lee Grant

The works of author Elmore Leonard are not known to make the transfer from the page to the screen very successfully. Sure, 1995's GET SHORTY was a big success, but HOMBRE (1967), THE 52 PICK-UP (1986), and CAT CHASER (1989) were all considered unqualified disasters (although HOMBRE is certainly underrated in retrospect). Unfortunately, 1969's THE BIG BOUNCE is also considered among those disasters, which is a totally undeserved fate for such an efficiently effective little film. In fact, I dare say I enjoyed THE BIG BOUNCE even more than GET SHORTY.The film opened to scathing bad reviews upon its release in spring of 1969, and audiences stayed away in droves (the film was never even released on home video until 35 years after its theatrical release in 2004). I haven't read Leonard's original novel, so I have no idea how faithful the film is when compared to the source material. I can say, however, that director Alex March and screenwriter Robert Dozier do a fine job keeping the momentum going, as the film moves along at a pleasing pace. And while the picture may not exactly have Oscar-worthy cinematography, the film is certainly good to look at, especially in its original Panavision widescreen format.The film's major ace-in-the-hole, however, is the always-terrific Ryan O'Neal in the lead. Although O'Neal was a major star in the seventies, starring in the smash hits LOVE STORY (1970), WHAT'S UP, DOC? (1972), and PAPER MOON (1973), he has never really seemed to receive his deserved props for being the truly topnotch actor that he is. Even in the absolute worst films (and he has made more than a few), I have yet to see him give a lackluster performance. And this film is no exception.After five years of starring on the popular primetime soap opera "Peyton Place," O'Neal made his starring debut in this film, and it is clear he had already begun mastering a respectable craft. From beginning to end, he is completely believable as our hapless hero. You never doubt his genuineness. It is yet another performance that makes you set up and ask yourself, "Why didn't this man get any more respect back in the day?" Of course, even if he never received much critical kudos, Ryan was certainly one of the top male pinups of his era. The reason is clear: in addition to being drop-dead-gorgeous, Ryan also was not the least bit shy about sharing his beautiful body with the rest of the free world. He always gave us exactly what we were wanting to see, and it all began here in THE BIG BOUNCE. Appearing in various stages of undress throughout the entire film, if watching Ryan in this film doesn't get you hotter than hell, then you better run out and get some Viagra.As for the rest of the cast, Leigh Taylor-Young, who was married to Ryan at the time of the film's release, is amusing as the wild and crazy hellion. Although Taylor-Young is far from my favorite actress, she really gives the part her all and is an absolute hoot to watch. The chemistry between her and O'Neal is magnetic, and some of their scenes together are pretty steamy. Leigh also looks terrific here, and does a somewhat surprising amount of nudity (isn't it odd that films from the late-sixties and early-seventies often have more causal nudity than films today).The camp honors for the film must go to future Oscar-winner Lee Grant, who probably likes to forget she appeared in this film. Grant turns in a hysterically unsubtle performance as the hot-to-trot single mom who lusts after Ryan throughout the picture (can't say I blame her). Grant literally trembles with unrestrained horniness anytime she is around O'Neal, and some of their scenes together are marvelously entertaining kitsch. She's basically all over the place at once, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't find her entertaining.The young Lisa Eilbacher is surprisingly credible, and displays of refreshing minimum of kiddie star cuteness as the young daughter of Grant's character. In particular, Eilbacher flawlessly handles one very difficult scene with such accuracy and truth that she provides the film with its one true heart-wrenching moment. Not surprisingly, Eilbacher continued acting and raked up numerous credits throughout the seventies and eighties, although she had not been seen in anything new for nearly 20 years now. I'd certainly like to know what she's been up to.The rest of the cast is filled out by a good assortment of character actors, a better lot than I would have expected, including James Daly and Robert Webber. The best of the group is easily Van Heflin, in a touchingly unsentimental performance as O'Neal's boss/father figure. It's very nice little portrait of tough love that feels refreshingly unforced, and it's a fitting bookend to the career of Heflin, who died a few short years later in 1971. All of the other minor roles are acceptably cast as well.Although the film is definitely underrated, it still is not perfect. Although it's enjoyable while it's playing, the film never really adds up to much in the end. It is further marred by an abrupt ending that ties things up too quickly and an absolutely atrocious music score (seriously, it's one of the worst original film scores that I've ever heard). Still, I guarantee that THE BIG BOUNCE will give you a couple hours of grooving, sexy fun. And the young Ryan O'Neal is very much worth checking out, especially here at the peak of his physical beauty.

I watched this movie with curiosity rather than interest inasmuch as I'd seen some comments that it had "bombed" when initially released. The ratings in IMDB, where as many people rated it a four as rated it a ten, clearly showed that it elicits a wide range of individual reactions. Personally I thought that it was worth watching but has a number of weaknesses. Jack Ryan (Ryan O'Neal) is a drifter working as a farm field worker. Fired for getting into a fight he escapes trial due to the intervention of the local judge, Sam Mirakian (Van Heflin). Jack is told to leave town by the farm supervisor Bob Rodgers (Robert Webber). However he stays after meeting the farm owner, "pickle king" Ray Ritchie (James Daly) and his secretary/mistress Nancy Barker (Leigh Taylor-Young). Jack takes a job as handyman at a hotel owned by the judge where he also meets a divorced woman, Joanne (Lee Grant), and her daughter. Unfortunately Jack begins to romance Nancy who turns out to be a thrill seeker (nice 1960's exploitation movie term!). Thrills include vandalism, breaking and entering and more (no sense giving away the plot). The movie is not entirely successful. In large part this is because it was taken from a book by Elmore Leonard. His works have a significant element of black comedy but, when played straight as here, it comes off as absurd melodrama. This movie has none of the sense of fun (i.e. Get Shorty) that this nuanced material needs. Fortunately Elmore Leonard's plots are relatively complex and full of incident so the movie keeps going and doesn't sag. The actors, aside from the pleasure of seeing them all so young, are mixed. Ryan O'Neal is best at light comedy which is to say that his performance here is limited. Leigh Taylor-Young displays a far greater range although, from time to time, a little histrionic for my personal taste (but then again I'm not a big Bette Davis fan either). While I've always looked forward to seeing Robert Webber I have to admit that he has only one expression throughout this movie. James Daly is underutilized but does have one extremely nasty scene, in the delicious sense of the word, pimping Nancy ("How would I know, I'm in produce"). The revelation is Van Heflin who is far more avuncular than I've ever seen him. I swear he was "channeling" Brian Keith! Unfortunately he lived only another two years and we lost what could have been a very interesting career as an older "character" man. RIP. The technical credits are fine and the gorgeous California scenery, I suspect the Monterey peninsula, would convince me to move. Overall the movie is worth watching but shows why Elmore Leonard's novels have a reputation for being poorly adapted to the screen.